The bonuses for the inaugural UFC on Fuel card totaled $200,000 with $50,000 going to each fighter in the fight of the night, knockout of the night and submission of the night.
The easiest choice was for submission of the night. In what has become a disappointing trend, there was a lack of victories, thanks to tapouts. Most fights either ended in knockout or decision wins.
Only one fighter was able to buck the new trend, and that was Ivan Menjivar who was able to submit John Albert by rear-naked choke. Menjivar battled back from a bad spot with Albert having kicked and punched him badly.
He was then able to find the opening and slapped the choke on. It not only got him the come from behind win, it got him some extra pocket money as well.
Before that, fans got the treat of seeing a submission battle with both men grappling on a high level and showing different Brazilian jiu-jitsu moves. It was one of the better fights of the night, and if not for the eventual winner, might have taken the prize home.
The winner of fight of the night was already a safe bet when Diego Sanchez was announced for the main tilt. He, just for all his wrestling credentials, loves to stand and trade.
He did just that, and while he lost the majority of it, he was able to crack Ellenberger with a few left hands while they were in the final stanza. It wasn’t enough to win the decision, but he did do enough to win the bonus.
With the financial problems that Sanchez has had recently, it is a great consolation prize.
The last bonus was the knockout of the night, and while a decent amount of fighters got a KO, none did it better then Stipe Miocic. Not only did he knock out his opponent, he did it in the first round.
Miocic didn’t let the bull rush of his opponent, Phillip De Fries, faze him, keeping calm even when he had a few punches land against his head.
His patience paid off as he landed a straight right which damaged De Fries and then quickly followed up. The bonus is great, and the short amount of time it took Miocic to get it along with the win means he will probably be stepping into the Octagon soon.
Now with a win over Joey Beltran and a knockout of the night bonus, Miocic should gear up for the level increase he is bound to be subjected to. Especially after doing so on the main card of a TV fight.
At the end of the night, the bonuses were given out fairly, and the best bonus went to the fans who got to see every fight on TV instead of potentially missing them on Facebook.
It’s too bad there isn’t a cash prize as well.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.com that focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com